Champaign, Illinois - February 15, 2014 - The winner of the 2014 Weber Award was announced today during the Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society in San Francisco, California. The award was consigned to Prof. Thomas Jovin.

Thomas Jovin is the Director of the Laboratory of Cellular Dynamics at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen (Germany). Born in Argentina in 1939, he studied biology at The California Institute of Technology and obtained a MD degree from Johns Hopkins in 1964. He joined the Max Planck Institute in 1969 and has acted as a Director since 1971.

Prof. Jovin’s research deals with the study of biological processes using physical-chemical methods. Some of his main research topics include the mechanisms of growth-factor mediated signaling in eukaryotic cells; the molecular mechanisms of amyloid protein association and aggregation; and the molecular mechanisms underlying cytopathology in Parkinson's disease. He has introduced the development and use of advanced organic and nanoparticle biosensors and optical sectioning fluorescence microscopy in the study of living cells. His research activity is detailed in the publication of almost 500 articles.

ISS is honored to recognize Dr. Jovin as this year’s recipient of the Gregorio Weber Award for Excellence in Fluorescence Theory and Applications for his continued contributions to the evolution of the field.